Roger Kessler was the man of the hour for my family.
Actually, he was the man of a very long day.
My mom, Yvonne Brayton, took a tumble at her home on Camano Island. My folks live next door to my brother, Terry, and his wife, Donnie.
It was one of those perfect storms when my br
other was in Idaho and my sister-in-law was in Bellevue. I live in Mill Creek, 45 minutes away from my folks. My sister and her husband live in Ellensburg.
I have a fuddy duddy old cell phone. Sometimes it alerts me when there is voice mail, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s notorious for buzzing excessively about a message three hours after said message.
That is what happened on this fateful afternoon.
In the evening, my telephone message deal-y went off and this is what I heard: “Kristi, it’s Dad. I’m in trouble. I need help.”
My stomach compressed in terror.
What was wrong?
He had called hours earlier.
After Mom, 89, fell and broke a couple of bones, my Dad, 91, called 911. The wonderful medic crew swept up Mom and roared off to an emergency room.
Dad doesn’t drive anymore, but he did this day.
Thank goodness they live only a couple of blocks from the Camano Senior and Community Center. My folks are longtime members of the center, and Mom formerly managed the Second Chance Thrift Shop that benefits senior services.
My dad, Bill Brayton, drove to the center and made his way inside.
At the front desk, Dad blurted his dilemma. His wife was taken to Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon and he wanted to be with her.
They’ve been married for 68 years.
Donna Wilson at the center quickly dialed Roger Kessler, a volunteer driver. He is the man when someone needs to get to a medical appointment in Seattle. Luckily the avid golfer was home.
Born in Ann Arbor, Mich., 83 years ago, Kessler worked for Proctor and Gamble and was transferred to Sacramento, Calif. in 1952.
He worked there for 16 years, then went into teaching. After retiring in California, he moved to Camano Island with his wife, Irene, to be closer to family.
“We liked the views and the weather,” Kessler said. “We were strangers, but we got involved.”
He volunteered at the Chamber of Commerce information booth at the threshold of the Island. His wife, Irene, volunteered for Meals on Wheels.
She died of cancer in 2009.
Kessler immersed himself in golf and is the tournament director for the men at Camaloch Golf Course. He’s a math tutor at Utsalady Elementary School.
He gets calls weekly or monthly from the center to drive a client. He hopped in his Honda Odyssey and drove to the center to pick up my dad.
Off they went to the Mount Vernon hospital.
“I told Bill to wait in the car,” Kessler said. “I went into the emergency room, but they never heard of your Mom.”
He called Donna Wilson back at the center. She called the fire department.
Wilson told Kessler that Mom was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.
That was not an inconvenience for Kessler. The men went to Everett.
Folks who have visited Providence Colby campus lately know that the familiar emergency room of yesteryear has moved from the south to the north side of the hospital.
Kessler, who loves to square dance, parked on the familiar south end, did the legwork to the new facility and found my Mom.
She was fixed up with a brace on her wrist — nothing could be done with the broken rib — and was ready to go home.
The angel of mercy drove my folks back to Camano Island and got them into their house. He called the senior center and suggested that someone check on the patient and her husband.
By that time, family was rounded up. My sister-in-law, the best of the best, took the first night shift with my Mom, who was delirious with pain.
Why they send seniors home so quickly from the hospital is a topic for another day.
When I met with Kessler to thank him personally, he said he’s been at this volunteer driving gig for 10 years.
“It’s a way to get to know people,” he said.
My family can’t thank him enough for getting to know our parents.
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.
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